The Fall of Never

Aspiring documentarian Kelly Rich comes home late one night to a message from her estranged family: her sister, Becky, was nearly killed in the forest near their house and Kelly must come home at once to her hometown of Spires in upstate New York. This leaves Josh Cavey, her videographer and the closest thing she has to a friend, in a fix when he finds their latest documentary subject, Nellie Worthridge, an elderly paraplegic, barely breathing on the floor of her apartment. In the hospital, Nellie begins saying and doing very strange things like talking about how "we almost killed that f-----g dog" and breaking all of the tines save one from plastic forks. She really upsets her attending physician, Carlos Mendes, when she mentions that his unborn baby is not going to make it to term. And, at her family home, Kelly feels like she is going crazy. She is having strange "memories" of her years in the asylum her parents put her in at 15 (the same age her sister is now), and this only increases her fear. How author Ronald Damien Malfi ties Nellie's odd behaviors to Kelly's visit to Spires results in the most effective chiller I've read in years. The Fall of Never gave me the first genuine reading-induced goosebumps I've gotten since my first time through Ray Bradbury's "The October Game," and it is only his second novel. The Fall of Never faithfully follows the expected route of the American gothic subgenre, yet it doesn't feel derivative, just familiar. Malfi informs his story with references from Shakespeare, Poe, even Puzo (watch out for those bags of oranges), and the cover illustration by Mike Bohatch gets the reader into the proper mood. Malfi truly knows his characters, so much so that I began to think I did, too. The dialogue is so personal, and each character has such a clear and distinctive voice, that it is easy to tell who is speaking just from their words. His female characters are especially well drawn and are the most integral to the plot, leaving the male characters like Josh and Carlos to simply respond to the actions of the women. The Fall of Never is about many things, but most of all it is about power: the power of fear and loneliness, of the mind and imagination, and the extreme result that comes from the combination of all four. Given the depth of his plot, I was concerned that any ending Malfi came up with would fail to meet the heights of what preceded it. But he managed to completely surprise me with a stunning conclusion that fits all the pieces together in a fully satisfying way and may even break new ground -- I know I've never read anything like it before. Despite its generic origins, the author does not limit himself and therefore comes up with a novel that feels completely original and definitely makes Ronald Damien Malfi someone to watch out for in the future.

ive been searching for a book such as this for some time. i love a book in which the first page sucks you in and doesnt let go... putting the book down is almost physically painful as your brain is insisting it MUST KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!... a rollercoaster ride of intensely intellectual imagery.... beautifully written so the reader is taken along and becomes a part of the story.... excellent.

I was beginning to think that literary horror no longer existed, suspense and horror written only to old formulas and clichés, then someone directed me to the small presses, and then specifically to Ronald Damien Malfi. Reading Fall of Never made me want to rewrite anything I'd ever written and has sent me on a search of all things Malfi. Malfi's prose is impeccable, his settings evocative and alive-read this and you won't forget the Spires compound, or even the hospitals or restaurants these characters visit;and Malfi's characters are the kind you want to follow, all the way to the end and beyond-even minor characters stand out as layered and authentic. The novel offers an intriguing and unnerving blend of physical and psychological horror with a surprising look into how we might be creators of our own fears. It made me look again at myself which is what good fiction should do.

It's always nice finding a gem from the small presses - anyone can read the latest Stephen King opus and enjoy it, but how many of us have discovered the wonder of both Ronald Damien Malfi and the fine folks at Raw Dog Screaming Press? Not too damned many...but that's gonna change someday soon. You can't keep stuff this good from hitting the greater world for very long. Mr. Malfi is a technician of the finest order. His sentences...his paragraphs...his chapters...all flow together so beautifully that 'The Fall of Never' could serve as a primer for How to Write Great Fiction (and not just Horror Fiction - but Fiction in general. This is the best-constructed book I've read in probably a year). He, in his second novel, has perfected the quiet art of pacing, and I haven't seen characters this good since...hell, since early Stephen King. The novel is a creeping tale of lost memories, lost childhood, and there's a twist on the Frankenstein/Pygmalion theme that is the most original approach to horror I've seen in many moons. It's a claustrophobic book, a gentle book, a grotesque book - and Malfi juggles these varying moods and styles with the skill of a four-armed juggler, never dropping a ball and rarely writing a sentence that doesn't ring with the perfect clarity of truth (and we all know Keats on the subject, right? Any truth is automatically beautiful, and this book ranks with the great beauties of all literature). Sorry to rave so hard about this - but it's that good, folks. Please give the man a shot - and keep the string of perfect RDS titles going. The more we buy, the more they'll print - and the better the world will be for it.

Malfi keeps you glued to the book. Be it from terror or your own morbid curiosity, you'll find yourself unable to put this book down. In other words, he'll own you! The plot is intoxicating, mesmerizing, and compulsively precise. Tying into the main, the subplot is just as equally engrossing and clever. The most scintillating aspect of the story is that although you can see that something evil is on its way with astounding velocity and inevitability, a part of you wants to close your eyes and wish it away. There's another part of you though, that wants to see, that needs to know. It's that part of you that keeps turning the pages as the blood spills and the bodies start to pile up. Malfi not only understands this, but he supplies it in spades. The atmosphere is charged with voltaic emotions and external anguish, electrifying the air you breathe. Coming off in deathless waves, the fear is naked and palpable. Each setting can be felt and embraced, every location visually assaulting. I'm not sure how he does it, but Malfi manages to not only materialize the house, but also give it its very own personality. It becomes a character that while it is cold and ugly, manages to rivet you. The characters are natural, realistic, and above all else honest. The interaction between Kelly and her family is both true and familiar. Each player has a depth, a well of emotions , that when tapped almost explodes off the page. Even the antagonist isn't without tenderness, forgiveness. Malfi's style of writing is sharp, keeping you on the edge from the first page to the last. His descriptions are tight, his settings corporeal, and dialog flawless. In all honesty, I never once even noticed the pace. The only time I even thought about it was when it came time to critique it. My assessment? Perfect. Get This Book! Whip out that credit card and get it NOW!